On a Mission to Prevent English Teacher Burnout

This week’s post is super-early because I’ll be at an “unconference” this weekend, meaning I won’t have my usual lazy Saturday morning to pull this post together. The upcoming EdCamp conference is unusual because it doesn’t feature any specific speakers or agenda. Instead, a group of 150 teachers will get together at 8 a.m. Saturday, decide what topics we want to learn about/develop, and then spend the day working toward our goal. I haven’t ever attended one of these events, but I’m stoked about the possibilities. Imagine – professional development where you actually leave with something tangible at the end of the day. Genius! You know I’ll share in a future post whatever goodies I come across…

For HW, students should read their S.S.R. books because Book Talks for a third of the class are due this Friday. (I stagger Book Talk deadlines over the last two weeks of the quarter, since teens almost always procrastinate and I can’t possibly Book Talk with all 34 students on the same day. To make things manageable, I divide the deadline groups by last name: A-H, I-P, and Q-Z. For the next quarter, I’ll scramble the order, so the second-quarter round of deadlines will run I-P, Q-Z, and A-H.)

Thursday
The class will work with Erik S., our librarian, to learn academic research skills. This is the first of a two-day lesson led by our librarian and the second part will be delivered on Monday. (Don’t hate me teacher friends, but Erik is also a credentialed teacher so he takes my classes for the full period, allowing me to sit in a corner of the library and grade students’ literary analysis paragraphs. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my school in general and Erik S. in particular?)

For HW, students should continue reading their S.S.R. books.

Friday
Because of last Friday’s Homecoming Rally schedule, we ran out of time to meet with Quarter Trio groups. Today, students will play the “Just Give the Word” game I had planned to use last week. (Hey, my copies are already made – sweet!)

Students will use the remaining class time to read their S.S.R. books and students on Book Talk deadline who haven’t already met with me will be given time to take care of this requirement. Ideally, some students will pop in before school or meet with me at lunch during the week to take care of this before the deadline, but we’ll see how many get this done prior to the actual deadline.

For HW, students should continue to read their S.S.R. books or find a new book, if needed.